


Glass Walls

by WORLDLWT



Category: Larry Stylinson - Fandom, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Boss Harry, Boss/Employee Relationship, CEO Harry, Fashion Designer Louis, Harry Styles - Freeform, Louis Tomlinson - Freeform, M/M, Rich Harry, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-19 18:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15515601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WORLDLWT/pseuds/WORLDLWT
Summary: Harry is the stressed out CEO of a fashion brand that he created. Louis rose from intern to the face of the brands streetwear collection. Harry still treats him like just an intern. When Harry gets a call that five models dropped out of his next fashion show , Louis and four of his coworkers are left in charge of finding five more models to save Harry's career and their own.





	1. One

Louis walked into the lobby of the Styles building in downtown Manhattan. It was a Saturday morning like any other, it was quiet on the street but the minute you pushed passed the glass doors of the Styles building you were in the middle of a chaotic whirlwind of chatter and commotion. Louis headed towards the elevator and pressed the button pointed up.

“Hello, Louis.”

Louis looked at the young women next to him, she wore her hair pinned up tightly with a black bodycon dress and black tights on. Her face was tight with worry as she typed on her phone her red nails tapping hard against the glass screen.

“Hello, Claire.”

The elevator opened and they both entered she pressed the button for floor 3 and Louis gave her a questioning look.

“Is there a reason you’re traveling into the BoHo realm today?”

Claire laughed pulling her bag in front of herself to make room for the person entering with them, a face neither of them knew very well.

“Paisley texted me that she forgot her as she calls it, ‘healing juice’ on her desk.”

Louis smiled smugly at the thought of Claire picking up whatever healing juice was and carrying it around like a corpse.

He scanned his key and pressed the button for floor seven. It was the special floor only 6 people occupied it. Two of them being Claire and himself.

“I guess I’ll see you up there?”

She got off of the floor the man in BoHo attire sliding past her and scurrying into his cubicle. She held the elevator door open, her red fingernails wrapping around the metal.

“Paisley also informed me that Harry is not in a good mood today. Something about a model dropping out of his fashion show next weekend.”

She let go and the door started closing he could hear her laughing and she scurried away yelling at him to enjoy the seventh circle of hell.

The Styles building consisted of seven floors. Many people referred to them as the seven circles of hell because of how torturous their jobs were. 

Floor one is the lobby consisting of the elevators and many conference rooms Harry rented out for use from time to time. Floor two was Louis’ as he called it brand. It was called streetwear. Everything and anything related to streetwear happened on that floor and only that floor and was marked by blue and white furniture. Every floor has a head sales person and that was him. 

Floor three is BoHo, run by Paisley De, a lovely wild ginger with the fashion style of a forest witch. Their section contained yellow and white furniture. Floor four was rocker wear, run by Lilly Jagger, no affiliation to Mic. They stayed true to black and white furniture with pops of red accents. 

Floor five is vintage wear, run by the youngest member of staff. An African designer who goes by the name of Emily Bello. No one knows her real name but she chose her name to sell her fashion faster and it worked. She chose green and white furniture styling. Floor six was Claire Perlo and that was high fashion. Everything in there was white and marble with accents of gold. 

Finally, the seventh floor was the scariest of all. The creator of the entire company sat in his crystal ball of an office made entirely of glass windows he had a 360 view of the city around him and he had his top five salespeople sitting outside of his office around a circular stage waiting for him to burst out with a new idea.

The elevator dinged and opened up to let Louis out into the marble office, the sun poured in from all around and made the room feel very cozy. Green plants hung from various places and made the room feel more exotic and exciting.

Louis went to his desk, set up in the half-moon facing Harry’s office. Harry had a direct view of Louis they sat facing each other the only thing between them were glass doors and glass walls. Harry would open the doors and come out to the middle on the tiny circular stage to address all five of his favorite workers with a morning announcement as they sat at their desks arranged in a perfect half moon for him. Not today though.

Harry sat at his desk in clear frustration throwing papers around while he barked down the phone at someone. Louis simply sat down at his desk and started to get to work.

To Louis’ left was Lily and then Paisley and to the right was Emily and then finally Claire. All of them were there except for Claire who came moments later placing the green liquid on Paisley’s desk before quietly making her way to her desk as Harry finally hung up the phone and rested his head in his hands.

Louis watched him sigh and get up as he started fake typing on the computer. Harry was in charge of every celebrity who walked through his doors and he depended on the five of them to give him the good news.

Harry peeked his head out of the door and cleared his throat looking around as all five pairs of eyes snapped up towards him. He locked eyes with Louis and Louis starred back.

“Louis, could I possibly borrow you for a second?”

Louis nodded and got up slowly making his way around the circle to enter Harry’s office. Harry was sitting down, his chair spun around so he was gazing into the Saturday morning sky.

“Lovely isn’t it.”

“Yes, yes it is.”

Harry spun his chair back around so he was facing Louis again his fingers drummed on the desk in front of him his name tag loud and proud reading his name.

“Do you know how many models are out there dying to be a part of my show?”

Louis didn’t know if he should answer or not so he stayed quiet as Harry ranted on.

“Hundreds if not thousands of girls desperate to be given even the smallest glimpse into my world.”

Harry looked up at Louis who was standing awkwardly in front of him, clearly unsure of what to say.

“I’m sorry. I need a coffee.”

“Would you like me to go get you one?”

Louis’ backstory was not as glamorous as the other fours. Louis was a paid intern for Harry. He did his coffee run every day for six months until he got promoted and then started his journey up to the seventh floor.

“I know it’s below you, I’m just desperate. Paisley will bring me something green and the other girls are wearing heels, you’re my guy.”

“Large caramel macchiato with extra caramel?”

Harry sighed with relief and slide a twenty over to Louis.

“Have I told you lately that I love you? Truly the best I’ve ever had.”

Louis mumbled thanks as he put the twenty in his pocket and exited the office as Harry started dialing more numbers.

The girls all looked at him with sad eyes. Paisley sipped on her juice as Emily spoke up.

“He needs to stop sending you on coffee runs. You’re not an intern anymore. He’s taking you away from your job.”

Louis laughed walking towards the door.

“Then you tell him that Em. He would love to hear that right now.”

Louis opened the door as Emily rolled her eyes. Everyone knew Harry treated Louis with just one less ounce of respect than the other four. He still had Louis the intern in the back of his mind and pulled him out whenever he needed him.

There were rumors in the office that it was because Harry had a little crush on Louis and that’s why he got promoted so fast and Harry sends him on errand runs just so he could talk to him. 

Louis did not think that was the case. He was his boss after all and he was very stressed out. He relied on Louis because Louis was reliable, not because Louis was his type.

*****

When Louis returned Harry was pacing his office. He looked more stressed than before and Louis could actually feel it through the glass. He knocked on the door and Harry looked up, smiling a little bit as he raised his hand to motion Louis inside.

Louis entered carefully closing the door behind him. He walked forward and gave Harry his coffee. Their fingertips brushed lightly as the exchange was made and Harry pulled away quickly. 

“Here is your change.”

Louis held it out and Harry took it shoving it in a jar he kept on a shelf. 

“Thank you. You can return to your desk.”

Louis nodded and Harry started to sip happily at his coffee returning to his comfy chair as Louis walked out of the office and back to his desk.

“Looks like you tamed the beast.”

Paisley was taping her fingers against her desk watching Harry relax into his chair. She looked at Louis while smiling her orange hair glistening in the sunlight. 

“You really do have a way with him.”

“All I did was get him a coffee.”

She sighed letting her chin fall into her hands. She looked like she was on the verge of sleep.

“No, don’t you see it? The way he looks at you? He totally calms down around you. It’s so romantic that he has a soft spot for you.”

Louis powered up his computer as he rolled his eyes. 

“That’s not true at all, where do you get these ideas from? Your healing juice is making you hallucinate.”

Emily laughed beside him as Claire’s phone rang, hopefully, a model was behind it. They all held their breath as she picked up the phone and answered in her Italian accent.

“Hello this is Claire Perlo, Styles Company, High Fashion branch how may I help you?”

Everyone held their breath. A potential model could be on the other end asking about the show. Or worse, another model could be dropping out. 

The only sound anyone heard was the soft humming of their computers and even Harry could feel the silence through the glass. Louis watched him lift his head in confusion to watch Claire’s facial expression twist down. 

She hung up the phone and picked up the paper she scribbled notes on. She sighed and stood up, flattening out her dress as her red heels clicked on the floor echoing in the silence of the office and she knocked lightly on Harry’s door.

The four watched her go inside and deliver whatever news she received. They watched Harry’s face deflate and watched him rise, leading Claire back outside to her desk. 

Harry stood tall and walked to the center stage to address them all. His suit was tailored well to his body but he looked restrained under it with all of the added stress.

“I need five models. One from each of you. I don’t care what they’re background is in the modeling world or how much experience they had. Just get me five more models or else this whole show will be ruined.”

He didn’t say please or thank you or anything he simply walked quietly back into his office and threw all of his papers off of his desk in a fury.

Harry was a silently angry person. He became scary and amplified his presence when he was mad. The five of them had seen him like this multiple times and it only lasted for a good five minutes and then he returned to normal but Louis had bigger things to worry about than Harry throwing a tantrum. 

He needed to start looking for a model. He had one week until the show and he didn’t even know where to start. 

He looked up at Harry picking up all of the papers he threw moments before and looked around at the girls dialing all of the contacts they had and he realized at that moment that if he didn’t pull this off he was fucked.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter just setting up the world! As the story progresses the chapters will get longer!

Claire Perlo was the oldest person in the top office. She oozed strict motherly love. She was stern but caring and made the office feel slightly more like home. 

She was a small Italian woman who moved to Argentina and met Harry at a fashion show in France when she was a bright and lively young woman. 

Unfortunately in the the moment Louis was watching her in now she was no longer that girl. When your mother was stressed you too were stressed and that was the tension in the room as the other four watched Claire, their rock melt under various pressures.

The four models that dropped were from the high fashion set and were technically Claire’s responsibility. Harry spread the burden to all of them because even though he had high standards he still had a heart and understood it was not Claire’s fault. 

Louis pulled up the list of models that were still left over. They had twenty models still in the system and their pictures and ID numbers appeared one by one before him, loading slowly so every face appeared briefly before disappearing just as quickly. 

Harry had an ID system set up so when the names of the models taking part in his shows were leaked it was just a series of numbers and the numbers changed every time. He wanted people to attend the show for his and of course their work and not for the models.

As the files loaded Louis went to the back room and dragged out the biggest whiteboard he could find. He dragged it into a corner so no one could see what he was doing and started to separate the board into five categories. High fashion, BoHo, Rocker, Vintage and finally Streetwear. He knew he couldn’t find a model today, he lacked the connections the others had but he for one could at the very least help Harry.

He moved back to his computer and pressed the print button, watching the faces and numbers of all of the models slowly appear on the white paper. When he had his full stack he got to cutting, cutting out their ID numbers and their picture and tapping it all together so he had twenty individual and movable pieces. 

As he stood to move back to his whiteboard a sound echoed through the office. It was Harry’s intercom, he was addressing the entire building, all seven floors becoming silent because a message an hour and a half into the work day was never a good message.

Harry cleared his throat and Louis looked up to watch him in his office, clicking a pen under his desk as he gazed out into the Manhattan skyline.

“Hello, Styles employees. I’m demanding everyone to go home immediately. All floors and all levels of employment please pack up your things and leave, you have ten minutes or you’re fired. Goodbye.”

He took his finger off of the intercom button and Louis looked at the other four in the room and they all shrugged packing up their things. Emily cracked her back in her chair and grinned.

“A day off is a day off no matter what. I’m going to go out tonight.”

Louis laughed out loud. He never had the energy to go out anymore. He was creeping up there in age and with work, it just became too much sometimes.

“Well Emily, not all of us are nineteen still. Don’t get old kiddo.”

She slung her backpack on and gave Louis a fist bump as she shut down her computer.

“You’re such a dad.”

She exited first and then Claire who muttered something about needing a drink. Then Lilly who simply threw up a peace sign and exited. Paisley sat at her desk admiring Louis.

“What are you doing?”

Louis started tapping models faces up in the appropriate category as he answered back in a hurried tone.

“Nothing important, don’t worry about me.”

She stood up from her chair with a smile, pushing it in as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

“Is this Harry’s way of getting you alone with him? He just knows you’re too stubborn to leave.”

Louis rolled his eyes as he started examining the faces before him trying to figure out how to make this all work out well for Harry. 

“You have a very dirty mind.”

He peeked out from behind the whiteboard as she walked towards the elevator scanning her key. She smiled at Louis one last time as she smuggly replied.

“I’m not judging you know. Just tell the boss I said thanks for the day off when you go in there.”

The elevator door opened and she waved him off as he yelled at her.

“We are not and never will be a couple!”

He could hear her laughing as the doors closed and she shouted back.

“A girl can dream!”

He rolled his eyes as the doors finally closed and he put his mind to rest for a moment. Harry was looking at the skyline in awe twirling a pencil in his hand. The sun was glistening down on him giving him a warm tone to his skin.

Louis walked around the desks and up to the door of Harry’s office, giving it a light tap. Harry spun around in his chair, his eyebrows up. He saw Louis and waved him in.

Louis walked in and Harry smiled at him lightly questioning why he was standing in his office.

“Did you come to say goodbye to the boss?”

He was smirking at Louis in a very distinct and specific way that made Louis question all the rumors about Harry having a fascination with him. He pushed those thoughts away and he chuckled lightly to amuse Harry.

“No, I’m wondering if you are staying behind?”

Harry seemed taken aback by the question. No one ever seemed to care what Harry was going to do or if Harry was staying late. They all seemed to be too preoccupied with themselves.

“Yes, yes I am. Is there a particular reason you’re asking?”

He raised his eyebrows at Louis edging him on to answer.

“I’m staying too.”

Harry laughed, finding it brave and comical that Louis would disobey his command.

“You aren’t afraid of me firing you?”

He checked his watch and tapped it three times.

“I mean you still have seven minutes but who’s counting.”

Harry laced his fingers together and leaned back in his chair his hands, sweating and digging up the glass table below them as they pressed heavily against it in anticipation.

“You would never fire me.”

Harry smiled at him, a genuine smile.

“Is that so? How could you be so sure?”

Louis walked a little closer so he could place the palms of his hands on Harry’s desk and lean closer to him.

“An hour ago you told me I was your guy. Who would you have without me?”

Harry hummed and closed his eyes. A light smile danced it’s way to his lips and he chuckled.

“You’re right. I would never fire you, any of you.”

He seemed to have added the last three words as a cautionary statement. It sounded like he didn’t mean it and Louis didn’t know why it hurt that he wasn’t necessarily special. Harry opened his eyes slowly and looked at Louis hard.

“There is a reason you came in here though, right?”

Louis nodded and pointed to the whiteboard that seemed empty but was hiding a plan Louis formulated in an impressive amount of time.

“I have a plan that might save all of us a lot of time and help you not be so stressed.”

Harry nodded taking in that statement and looked at Louis again.

“Alright, show me.”

Louis nodded, excitement filled his entire body. Finally, his chance to really prove himself as one of the core five. The others had amazing backstories but Louis wasn’t interested in backstories he was interested in the present, in the future. He always said it doesn’t matter where you come from but where you go and Louis had a feeling he was going places.

He dragged the whiteboard back into the office and set it up so Harry could see it. Harry stood up immediately and examined the board next to Louis. Louis never realized how tall harry was. He always seemed to view him from behind the desk. 

“Pitch it to me.”

Louis cleared his throat and picked up a marker to point at things and he turned his head to see Harry’s reaction.

“So. My vision for this model mess is that those five are gone, hence the empty high fashion box.”

Harry nodded at the obvious and Louis continued on with his plan.

“I think now we need to bring a new light to this show. I think we should move one model from each of the remaining four categories into the high fashion realm. Then we will have one open spot in each category.”

Harry continued to nod as Louis’ voice grew more excited with each passing second. Harry’s lip twitched into a smile at the sound.

“My big idea is that we formulate an online press release as soon as possible today and we hold open auditions right here Monday through Friday covering all five categories. Starting with the easiest, streetwear on Monday and moving up to the hardest being high fashion on Friday. This gives more serious models time to see the message and the success of the casting sessions and increases the possibilities of talent appearing throughout the week.”

Harry smiled. Examining the board already moving models around in his head. Envisioning it all with Louis for a moment of silence. Louis watched him purse his lips, nerves built up inside of him.

“I like it. It’s crazy, it’s risky but it might just work.”

Louis sighed with relief and Harry rubbed his shoulder.

“Now will you help me move around some models?”

Louis nodded and Harry smiled liking this idea more and more as the time went on, imaging the press he would get when he released five new models into the world.

“Well then let’s get started.”

Louis nodded and moved his hand to pick up the first model from streetwear and Harry went for the same one, their fingers touching and though neither of them noticed they both blushed and rushed to apologize.

Harry wiped the blush off first and looked down at Louis who was still a little red. Harry smiled and let Louis talk as he moved the model they both went to choose to high fashion

“I think personally model number zero seven nine eight nine two could be a great high fashion model. The look is all there but they have been stuck in their branded phase for a while I would like to see them break out a little more.”

Harry admired the awareness Louis had for models even not in his realm. Harry noted that for later.

“I agree but I also like model seven zero three six nine one from the same vintage category.”

Louis nodded at that moving them both over and then moving a BoHo model over to the vintage section and then looked to Harry for approval and was surprised to see a look of shock on his face.

“You know what Tomlinson no one gives you the credit you deserve. You’re brilliant.”

They moved a final model and Harry examined the board alone as Louis sat down and admired him. The way he ran his fingers through his hair and tossed it to the side really intrigued Louis.

Maybe Paisley wasn’t too far off in her dreamland. Louis could see himself with someone like Harry but the problem was could Harry see himself with someone like Louis?

“I like this setup, Louis.”

He walked away from the board and then back to his seat. He opened his laptop and started typing a message out that he would send to every magazine and news source he could.

“So, I don’t want to squash your vision but I’m thinking Streetwear Monday, Rocker Tuesday, BoHo Wednesday, Vintage Thursday and High Fashion Friday?”

He peeked at Louis above the laptop screen for approval and Louis nodded playing with the edge of the table, suddenly uncomfortable in the silence and in his head. He didn’t know what was in the air today but Harry just seemed beautiful to him today. 

Harry closed the computer and cracked his knuckles and smiled at Louis. Louis smiled back awaiting a demand for him to get out of the office.

“Thank you. I really do think this could be a good experience, new faces and talent are good for companies like me that rely on steady models. Models like to stay loyal to companies where they got their start because they feel connected to them. I don’t know if that was your reasoning behind the idea or if you’re just a good person and want to give people a dream come true but it was a very smart business move.”

Louis nodded and Harry cleared his throat, Louis gave him his full attention and Harry checked his watch and Louis could feel the time ticking past. He was nervous he was going to get kicked out of the building now so Harry could continue to stay and stare at the skyline until the sunset.

“Louis?”

Louis came back to earth and crawled out of the spiral he was going down and locked eyes with Harry again.

“I wasted an hour of your free time, let me take you to an early dinner or late lunch right now?”

Louis’ eyes widened at the idea and Harry looked like he immediately regretted it and suddenly the cool and confident Harry Styles looked nervous. 

“Oh...I’m well.” 

Louis paused unaware of if he should agree to it or not and Harry got up from his seat and started to walk around to Louis’ side.

“I’m sorry I’m sure you have better things to do. It’s silly of me to think you would like that I am your boss. Would it even be appro-“

Louis grabbed onto his hand so he would stop walking away and Harry’s hands were tougher than Louis imagined them to be as he gripped it lightly.

“No! I’m totally free and I would love to go. I’m sorry, you caught me a little off guard. I was expecting you to kick me out.”

Harry seemed to relax and he looked down at Louis’ hand gripping his own and Louis blushed and pulled his hand away, holding it as if Harry’s hand burned him.

“Oh. Good then. Where would you like to eat? I’m paying.”

Louis racked his brain for a good restaurant they could go to but his mind seemed to be turning to mush as they spoke. Harry’s eyes seemed to twinkle differently than before and Louis’ heart seemed to race faster than before.

“Well, if you’re going to pay how about you pick?”

Harry nodded and stroked his chin looking up, both boys were in suits, Louis’ more of a sports jacket but it would do.

“There is this delicious tavern. It has good servings which is a rare find here.”

He chuckled and Louis chuckled as well. Harry grabbed his keys off of his desk and shoved them in his jacket pocket.

“Does that sound good?”

“Absolutely!”

Harry opened the door to his office the emptiness of the building suddenly surrounding them.

“After you.”

Louis nodded and walked through the door, grabbing his backpack on the way out, Harry slung a bag over his shoulder that sat on a rack outside of his door and they moved towards the elevator together. 

Harry scanned his card and they waited in silence for the elevator to come upstairs. Suddenly it was very awkward, something was in the air between them that was not there before.

The elevator chimed and opened for them. They both let out a sigh of relief as they moved into the small space together. Harry cleared his throat as the elevator doors closed.

“Just so we are clear, this is a business dinner. I don’t want you to think otherwise. I mean I’ve heard the rumors about me having some sort of thing for you or whatever. I just don’t want you to think-“

“Harry.”

Harry stopped talking and looked at Louis wide-eyed.

“You don’t have to explain yourself. I understand. It’s just causal right.”

“Right.”

Harry nodded and smiled returning to his position staring at the wall as the numbers climbed down to the parking garage. Louis turned and looked at himself in the reflective metal and smirked a little. This was totally a date.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Harry voice* This is not a date... OR IS IT

Harry drove an expensive car to one of the most expensive restaurants Louis had ever seen. Harry was busy talking to the valet to see Louis eyeing the place in awe. 

As he looked around another man opened the passenger door and extended his hand for Louis to take. Louis was taken aback but shook it off and tried to act like he belonged there. 

Harry looped around the car and handed the keys to the valet as he stood beside Louis. Harry’s hand found Louis’ lower back and he nudged him along.

Louis stiffened a little as they entered the extravagant restaurant. It wasn’t very busy as most people were still at work. People who ate here worked on Saturday’s, this was a no days off kind of restaurant.

A lovely young girl smiled as they approached her podium. She had soft eyes that matched the smile she gave them.

“Hello, gentlemen. Will it just be the two of you dining this afternoon?”

Harry was the one who answered them. Louis even looked over to him in anticipation of his answer. 

“Yes, yes it will be.”

He looked down at Louis who watched the girl nod once firmly before taking two menus from under the podium and lead them to a table in the back by the window.

“Your server today will be Theodore. Have a lovely meal.”

Louis and Harry sang back a thank you to the young woman. Harry started to flip through the menu as if this wasn’t awkward. Maybe it wasn’t for him and Louis was thinking too much into it. Maybe Paisley’s comment never settled in his mind but something inside of him felt off.

“Louis, are you alright?”

Harry had the menu balanced on one forearm, his hands wrapped around from the button, his rings glistening at him reminding Louis of just how much money Harry had.

“Sorry, yes, I’m fine. I’ve never been here before it’s lovely.”

Harry looked around as Louis opened the menu putting a smile on his face. Harry gave a curt nod of approval and looked back at his menu. Louis looked at the prices and started to feel the back of his neck sweat. 

“What are you thinking about getting?”

Harry looked up from his menu and he closed it as he answered Louis’ question with confidence.

“The New York Strip. It’s prime aged steak and quite excellent. I’ve had it a few times and it honestly gets better each time.”

Louis looked for that on the menu and felt his skin crawl when he saw the price. Seventy-two dollars for aged steak seemed ridiculous to him. 

“What are you going to have?”

Louis searched the menu frantically for something much more affordable. He didn’t want Harry to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a steak.

“Uh, well.”

He paused looking at the salads as Harry seemed to eagerly await his answer.

“I’ll probably have the Caesar salad.”

Harry smiled at his response for a moment and then he seemed to become more serious.

“Are you a vegetarian? If you are we can go up the block to this very interesting vegetarian grill I discovered. You would have more options there.”

Louis seemed taken aback by the willingness to please him and smiled softly.

“No, I like meat. It’s just expensive. You’re paying and I don’t want to step on your toes.”

Harry smiled as the waiter came over with a smile.

“Hello, my name is Theodore are you gentlemen ready to order?”

Harry smiled, clearing his throat as he replied swiftly.

“Good afternoon Theodore. We will both have the aged steak cooked medium for both of those. Also, could we please both have water and the best white wine you have.”

Theodore jotted it all down as Harry collected the menus for him, handing them over. As Theodore secured them under his arm he asked Harry a question.

“Will the wine be glasses or the bottle.”

“The bottle.”

He nodded and scurried back to the kitchen. Louis watched him go and noticed he never once looked at Louis. Harry was always in boss mode. 

“You’re drinking wine and driving?”

Harry raised his eyebrows at Louis as if he asked a silly question.

“Of course not, you’re drinking the wine. You can take it home after, consider it a thank you gift.”

“I thought this was my thank you gift?”

Louis gestured to the luxury room around them and Harry shrugged. Theodore came back with two wine glasses clinking as they hung upside down and he placed them in front of the two men.

Louis watched him swiftly take out a bottle opener and pop the cork off with ease. He quickly poured two glasses and was on his way, leaving the bottle on the table between the two.

“Take a sip, let me know if you like it.”

Harry watched him intently as he carefully lifted the glass in a small salute to Harry before he took a sip. He licked his lips as the smooth liquid slid down his throat intoxicating his body.

“Wow. That’s fantastic wine.”

Harry smiled and moved his glass to the other end of the table out of the way as Theodore returned with the two glasses of water. Harry thanked him as Louis sipped the wine again, loving the taste.

“I’m glad you like it. Take it home impress the next romantic date you bring home.”

Louis’ eyebrows raised in a playful expression, almost embarrassed at the idea of Harry even thinking about Louis being romantic with anyone. 

“I’ll try to save it for that very moment then.”

Harry raised his wine glass slightly silently asking for Louis to raise his as well.

“To the next person, you bring home.”

Louis raised his glass and lightly clinked it with Harry’s a little chuckle sneaking out between his lips.

“Cheers to that!”

Harry didn’t sip his own, he simply placed it down as Louis’ mind raced with pictures of Harry coming over and fantasies of what that day would bring. 

“Do you take me seriously?”

Harry seemed taken aback by his question but intended to answer to the best of his ability.

“Yes, I do. Why would you ask something like that?”

Louis bit down on his tongue lightly as he thought for a moment to secure his answer.

“People have just been talking. Things about how you still see me as just an intern.”

Harry contemplated what he just said, possibly thinking about his recent actions and the many times he pulled Louis away from his work to simply run errands for him.

“I see why people get confused. I have been using you as a part-time intern.”

He paused looking at Louis with intent and excitement in his eyes.

“Well, I guess since you’re going to be so busy helping me with these auditions I’ll have to hire an assistant tomorrow.”

Louis, by instinct almost offered to help him but quickly remembered tomorrow was Sunday and he needed at least one day off before the storm of models started.

“Sounds like a good plan. I can’t wait to meet them on Monday.”

Louis saw Theodore walking over with their plates and took a quick sip of his wine. He lowered them down for Harry and Louis and they both thanked him as he nodded and walked away.

Harry cut into his steak examining it while nodding in approval. Louis simply cut a piece off and put it in his mouth, almost moaning at the taste.

“How is it?”

Harry waiting for an answer as Louis chewed easily and then swallowed felt like an eternity.

“It’s brilliant. I’ve never had anything like it.”

Harry smiled and cut off two more pieces, poking the first one with his fork.

“It’s worth the money, I told you.”

He plopped the piece in his mouth chewing it like he was eating a boring meal. Louis watched his jaw extend out as he chewed and never noticed how defined it was until now. Louis felt like he was about to get very hooked on Harry Styles. 

****

Harry dropped Louis off at his apartment building and handed him the bottle of wine, zooming off before Louis could even ask if he wanted to come inside.

The doorman who Louis would occasionally start up a conversation with opened the door for him as he struggled to swing his backpack over his shoulder as he held the bottle of wine.

“Good evening Mr.Tomlinson.”

“Hello Jeffery, thank you.”

Louis smiled as he walked through the door of his building. He made a nice salary at The Styles Company, enough to afford a pretty fancy room in a pretty fancy apartment hotel complex. At least it was fancy enough where he wasn’t embarrassed for Harry to drop him off. Harry did call it quaint but Louis pushed that aside as he got in the elevator.

He lived on the seventh floor, just like work. His life seemed to be on one track. Seven floors above the ground, always looking at the world from the same point, the skyline was always the same and the air never thinned. But life was good, life was normal and he knew falling for Harry would change that all.

The elevator closed just as he walked inside, he clicked the seventh-floor button and closed his eyes as the elevator moved up the floors, dinging each time. Finally, they opened and he quickly got out making a left and walked all the way down the hall. He was the last room, room number 713. He had two walls made entirely of windows that let light flow easily into his kitchen and bedroom.

He opened his door and quickly got inside as he heard his neighbors voice down the hall. He didn’t have the time to talk about the last football game that was on for forty minutes.

He walked directly to the kitchen, putting the wine bottle down in the corner of the counter, far away from the edge. Louis wondered when he would open that next. 

He felt for his phone in his pocket and dialed Paisley’s number, resting the phone between his ear and shoulder as he opened his bedroom door.

Her voice sounded perky and friendly as he laid down on his bed, not even bothering to turn on the lights as he watched the sun getting ready to set on another Saturday.

“Louis? You never call me. What do I owe the honor?”

She sounded almost playful on the phone. Louis never called anyone from work he liked to keep the two lives separate but this would eat him alive all weekend.

“I have some Harry news to share with you.”

He heard her squeal on the other end of the phone. He could picture her jumping up and down on her bed as they spoke.

“Paisley you cannot tell anyone what I’m about to tell you. Do you understand that?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die Louis Tomlinson.”

He sighed as he racked his brain on where to start and simply went from the beginning.

“After I showed Harry the project I was working on he took me to a late lunch early dinner situation. The weird part was when we were in the elevator down he kept explaining that it was just business.”

Paisley was quiet for a moment, contemplating the things Louis told her.

“Was the restaurant fancy and what did you order?”

“Yes, it was expensive, he paid. I tried to order a salad but he ordered a seventy-two dollar steak for me and a whole bottle of wine for me to take home. He said it was a thank you gift.”

Paisley started laughing and Louis sat in confusion on his bed and suddenly felt dumb for calling her. Was she laughing at him?

“Louis. That’s a date if I’ve ever heard one. No one brings their colleague to a restaurant and basically forces them to eat the most expensive thing on the menu! He’s flaunting his cash for a reason.”

“Do you think he likes me like that?”

Louis sounded insecure and Paisley picked up on his change of tone immediately.

“Well Louis, do you like him like that? This feels to me like you are soul searching a little bit.”

Louis paused for a moment. He dedicated a lot of time to Harry. He cared about him, unlike other people. He took extra time out of his day for Harry and today he felt a shift in the air when he looked at Harry. Was he ready to admit that to anyone but himself?

“I’m really not quite sure.”

“I don’t believe you. I think you like him and you’re just being a baby about it. I have to go but you have to figure your feelings out first. Bye Louis.”

She hung up before Louis could say goodbye and he dropped the phone on his bed. Thinking about the pros and cons of Harry. His pros were that he was attractive, rich, friendly and overall nice to Louis. On the other hand, Louis has heard he had a drinking problem and wasn’t a very loyal lover. Also, he was his boss and that was already a tricky relationship, to begin with.

Louis got up and moved himself to his desk. He turned on his lamp and sat down at as the white desk glistening back at him giving him hope. After taking out a black pen and finally unwrapping the journal he bought months again he let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. If there was a better time than ever to start a journal then he had already missed it. Paisley was right, he had a lot of soul searching to do and he needed to know if he was in a good enough position in his life to risk it all over his boss.

He opened the book and clicked the pen open. He sighed heavily and felt silly for overthinking this whole thing but he jotted down the name that would haunt him for the rest of his days if he screwed this up. Harry Styles.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> angst

Sunday went by quickly and before Louis knew felt the pain of it all hard as he was changing into a full-blown Gucci tracksuit getting ready for work. When something involving streetwear was showcased Louis dressed for the moment.

The thing Louis did like about Harry and his business was the fact that there was no dress code. As long as work got done Harry didn’t care what you wore. It also gave people motivation to express themselves and create.

Louis looked at himself in the mirror, ruffling his hair so it fell the way he liked it. Was he trying to impress Harry? Possibly. It would just be an added bonus.

He smiled at himself and then made his way outside and started on his commute to work. He took a taxi today in hopes to catch a ride home with the boss and possibly uncover some more about him.

When he arrived there was a line out the door with security everywhere. Louis knew Harry’s brand was successful but he never realized how many people wanted a taste of it.

He presented his badge and ID and was let into the building. He quickly said hello to Luigi, the man that worked behind the front desk and got into the already open elevator.

He scanned his ID card once more and clicked seven as people filled the rest of the small space. They stopped at every single floor which irritated Louis but they finally got to seven and he was the sole survivor of the ride.

He walked into the office and Lilly immediately greeted him. She was wearing a leather jacket with black ripped skinny jeans. Her curly blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail.

“Paisley said you’re going to hate this but Harry got an intern.”

“I already knew-“

“Hold on. You didn’t let me finish.”

Louis went silent as a man walked out of Harry’s office wearing a tight turtleneck sweater and looked like he just fell from heaven. He was muscular and tall and had dark black hair and a perfectly shaven beard. His eyes were so blue even Louis’ felt dull in comparison.

“You didn’t let me mention that he was smoking hot.”

Louis frowned and crossed his arms like a child as he felt jealousy boil up inside of him.

“What’s his name?”

Lilly shrugged and sat at her desk. Paisley seemed to appear out of thin air with Claire behind her. Louis could see Emily looking at the man in disbelief from the refreshment table she was setting up.

The man approached Louis with his hand out. Louis took it softly and the man gripped it tightly.

“Hello. You must be Louis. I’m Nicholas, feel free to call me Nick.”

Louis smiled back containing his anger. This could not be real. Harry could not have found this godly human being just in one day. Louis looked at Harry’s office and caught his eye for a moment before Harry snapped his head down and continued typing on his computer.

“It’s nice to meet you. It’ll be a hectic week, it’s good to have you on board. If you need anything we can help. You can use one of our keys to swipe in and out.”

Nick held up a golden key just like theirs. Louis’ jaw was probably on the ground as he examined the key.

“No problem. Harry gave me one today.”

“Really. I didn’t have a key as an intern.”

The girls watched the two talking and could feel the air shift. Louis was letting his mask slip off and everyone could feel his anger, even Nick.

“I’m sure it’s just because Harry needs you all focused this week. He probably didn’t want me getting in your hair.”

Louis nodded and took a step back as he started to move towards his desk.

“I’m sure that’s it. It was nice to meet you, Nick.”

Nick nodded and quickly moved away from the situation as Harry walked out of the office and Louis sat down. Harry made his way to the center and stood on the small stage.

“Good morning. No need to all sit Emily continue what you're doing over there just everyone listen carefully. There is a line forming outside so today is going to be hectic. I need all hands on deck. Some of you may be wondering why this is all happening but Louis gave me this brilliant idea on Saturday. Nobody needs to hire a model anymore because we are going to look at models all week and make decisions each day. Today is Louis’ day to choose a streetwear model and then we will work from there. I’ll announce who is going tomorrow later tonight but let’s get the show on the road.”

Harry waved Nick into his office and Nick followed him in. Louis watched them chat as Paisley waved to get his attention. Louis looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

“I bet this is him trying to make you jealous.”

Louis rolled his eyes but secretly hoped it was true. Nick walked out again as Harry announced he would be bringing models up ten at a time for them to judge.

Nick disappeared and Harry set up the lights on the stage so they all were lit up correctly and he set up a seat at the corner of Louis’ desk for himself.

“You don’t mind me here, right? I like your view the best.”

Louis shook his head no as he sat down beside Louis making himself comfortable with his notepad. Louis took out his notepad as well and started scribbling notes down already.

Harry glanced over at what he was writing and realized he was just dating the paper. Harry scribbled down on his own notepad and pushed it towards Louis a little so he could read it.

_Opinions on Nick?_

Louis raised his eyebrows, shocked that Harry was asking him that.

_He’s very muscular and attractive. You seem to trust him considering you gave him a key already…_

Harry read the note biting his lip ever so slightly as he wrote down his reply.

_Jealous?_

Louis grabbed Harry’s notepad from him in a moment of bravery and scribbled down his answer before handing it back as Nick walked back through the door with the models. Harry looked down and read the simple response.

_Yes._

Nick stood there awkwardly with the first ten models as Louis nudged Harry to stop gawking at his response and greet them. Harry immediately sat up straight and smiled.

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen welcome to Styles. It’s going to be a quick question and answer style interview. You’ll follow the mosaic on the floor to this small center stage in front of me and you’ll simply answer our questions and show off your style. Do you all have your numbers?”

All ten of them nodded and Louis could only imagine how intimidating this was. The five heads and the boss staring you down as you stood on a small stage in front of them.

“Perfect! Number 1 please come forward.”

A very tall and skinny girl came forward and stood in front of them with a serious expression on her face. Louis wrote down some notes as Harry started to fire questions at her.

“How tall are you?”

“Six foot.”

Harry nodded as he examined her as if she was lunch meat. It was a cruel experience but Harry tried not to make it too uncomfortable for people.

“Do you have any experience with streetwear?”

“Yes. I’ve worked on multiple shoots that have involved streetwear.”

Harry asked two more questions about who she worked with and when and then he called the next person forward. It went like that until all ten were done and Nick went downstairs to collect ten more models.

Harry scribbled something down on the pad that he hadn’t touched at all during the interviews and slide it to Louis.

_You’re better than Nick._

Louis smiled and felt smug for a moment and jotted down his thoughts on Harry’s paper again.

_Oh really? Tell me how I’m better than him._

Harry smirked and brought the pad back to his lap and scribbled more notes down and passed it to Louis as more models came in and he started the same speech as before. Louis looked down and started to read the lengthy message.

Y _ou’re smarter than him. He’ll never be more than an intern. Also, you have a bigger ass than him._

Louis blushed red as Harry swiped his notepad back and started talking to the models. Louis didn’t come back to earth until model fifteen.

A young male that looked a lot like Louis came up to the stage and smiled brightly at Harry who smiled back.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes number fifteen. How tall are you?”

“Six-four.”

Harry fanned himself and the man blushed lightly his tracksuit fitting him perfectly.

“Have you ever done runway before?”

“Yes, I used to model for Versace.”

Harry hummed in approval and put his hand up, his pen sitting between his fingers and his rings shining in the light.

“That’s all I need to know, next please.”

Harry slide the notepad back to Louis as he continued to talk to the last five models. At first, Louis didn’t know what to write but he decided to twist Harry’s own words from just two days ago.

_I thought you were going to stick to declining those rumors and keep this professional. Just business remember?_

The last model left the room and Nick went outside to get the next ten models and Harry picked up the pad. He read what Louis wrote and smiled softly. He quickly scribbled his response and then slid the notepad back to Louis.

_I can change my mind. Do I need to remind you that I’m the boss?_

Louis had been reading over his shoulder and let out a long, heavy breath as he scribbled his response as quickly as he could.

_No sir._

Harry smiled and tucked the notepad under Louis’ and left it there for the remainder of the day. He interviewed forty models and then cut it down to twenty. Then he disappeared into his office.

Louis took the notepad and read through their conversation and felt his body get excited. Was Harry teasing him? Was he really going to just write all that stuff and then hide in his office? Louis looked around and all of the girls seemed busy so he hid the notepad inside of his desk.

Louis started his daily routine of clearing up the streetwear section of the website, removing anything that was sold out, setting sales prices and making sure everyone was shipping the right amount out.

Emily tapped his desk with her pen and he looked over at her with questioning eyes. She turned her screen towards him and he looked at a bunch of numbers on her computer.

“How do I do that thing you always do where you drag the boxes and it all calculates by itself.”

Louis was trained in excel and knew everything there was to know about it. He showed Emily how to do this around three times a week and she never learned. He didn’t mind though he liked helping people.

She thanked him a million times and he wrote the steps down on a post-it and stuck it on her desk. She smiled, sticking it up where she could see it and he got back to work. Three hours of typing out magazine articles and calling to check on runway setups went by before Harry stood up and walked to the door. He popped his head out as Louis started typing again and cleared his throat.

“Louis, come over and help me make a decision in here.”

He didn’t even wait to let Louis in he quickly slipped back inside holding the two folders in his hands, examining them both eagerly as Louis walked over and opened the door.

He went over to Harry’s desk and sat in one of the chairs as Harry held up the last two models he chose. Model number one and model number fifteen.

“First model number one had the model look and she seemed very serious and fierce which I liked but model number fifteen was hot and I looked him up and he did actually walk in a lot of Versace shows. Streetwear on him would be iconic if we put him in the final piece and make him the center of the show.”

Louis thought about it. He considered the fact that Versace would probably want him back after and get into a big fuss over him with Harry.

“You would be giving model one a big break but giving model fifteen a platform that’s bigger and better than before. Either way, you’re helping their career but if it’s ratings and purchases you want number fifteen is probably the better option.”

Harry nodded and folded both folders and set them aside. He let his hands lay flat on the table, drumming them over the glass as he spoke to Louis quietly.

“About before...don’t share that. Let's keep this a little secret between the two of us okay?”

Louis nodded as Harry leaned over a little bit more so he got closer to Louis’ face. From the outside, it looked like the two were just carefully whispering but from the inside, it felt hot and Louis could feel his insides melting away.

“Anything you want sir.”

Harry smirked at the word sir. He liked that. He wanted to hear much more of that from Louis.

“Don’t worry about Nick. He’s just for looks.”

Harry’s fingers reached out and brushed Louis’ hand and Louis shivered as Harry smiled softly.

“He’s not my type anyway.”

If Louis died right now he wouldn’t have been surprised. This was something he had secretly been hoping for, for a very long time.

Harry took his hands back and Louis came back down to earth. His cheeks returned to their normal color as Harry stood.

“If you can go outside and keep quiet maybe we can hang out here after hours.”

Louis felt like he was starting to sweat as he stood up and walked out the door beside Harry. Harry opened the door and guided Louis by the small of his back out of his office.

“We’ve made a decision. Model number fifteen will be joining us this weekend at the annual Styles Fashion Show!”

The four girls clapped and Nick smiled at the group, not really sure how to react. Louis smiled and made his way to his desk again. Paisley looked at him and then furiously typed on the computer.

Louis’ computer dinged and he looked to see Paisley sent him an email. He looked up to see her staring at him. He opened it and read it to himself.

_Spill the details you were red as a tomato in there! We’re all curious now._

Louis shook his head with a smile and started to type back as he gazed at Harry who was handing Nick money to get him a coffee.

_He was just telling me about Nick not being as good as me and I was getting flustered._

Paisley read the message and seemed displeased by the response. She looked him dead in the eyes and out loud replied to him.

“You’re so boring!”

Louis shrugged and continued to do his work. Now watching the clock. He only had four hours until Harry was alone with him after hours.

When five o’clock rolled around the four girls took their time packing up. They chatted as they normally would and Harry sent him an email with all of model fifteens information and pictures and he added a message.

_Make yourself look busy._

Louis looked up at Harry who winked at him and then continued to scroll through his computer. Louis clicked on the attachment and started to read it.

Emily and Claire passed by and looked over his shoulder. They seemed interested in what he was doing.

“The boss is keeping you late then?”

Louis laughed and shook his head. Paisley grabbed her things as well and moved over to Louis to look at his screen.

“I just have to read this and send it to the tech guys and then I’ll be out of here. It’ll probably take about ten more minutes.”

Paisley smiled and Emily yawned, checking her watch.

“We could wait for you. You said you needed a ride home before.”

Louis looked at the clock, just wishing they would leave.

“It’s okay. I’ll call a cab to come and pick me up.”

Emily shrugged and started to walk away, Paisley followed yelling that he worked too hard and Claire massaged his shoulders as Lilly returned from the bathroom and said her goodbyes.

“You work way too hard Louis. Come out for a drink with us tonight?”

Louis pretended to contemplate it but already knew his answer as he looked up at Harry who was now looking out at the skyline.

“I’ll tell you what. After the show, I’ll go out with you guys that next Monday. How does that sound?”

Claire smiled, taking his answer immediately, not expecting anything from him.

“That sounds like a plan. Now get this work done so you can go home.”

Louis chuckled as he watched her leave. The elevator door closing behind her. Louis sat there for a moment as Harry spun around in his chair. Walking over to the door. His jacket tightening around his shoulders as he opened the door.

“Mr.Tomlinson, could you come in here please?”

Louis stood up from his desk and smirked. His chest felt heavy with excitement and he was breathing heavily already.

“Of course sir.”

He quickly walked around to the door so he was standing in front of Harry. Harry’s hand reached out so his fingers wrapped tightly around the zipper, pulling it down a quarter of the way.

“This will eventually have to come off.”

Louis seemed to be panting as Harry pulled him inside closing the door behind them and moved him so he was up against the glass wall.

“You’ve been teasing me for two years, Tomlinson. Do you know how radiant you look in these tracksuits?

Louis felt his whole body get warm as he grasped Harry’s hand tightly and went to move his hand to his waist as there was a knock on Harry’s office door.

Nick looked very confused as Harry stepped back and coughed, waving him in as Louis zipped his tracksuit up slightly.

“Was I interrupting something?”

Louis and Harry both shook their heads. Louis seemed frozen on the spot as Nick handed Harry a stuffed envelope.

“The front desk said this was urgent.”

Harry took the envelope and thanked Nick who gave them one last weird look before exiting again. Louis laughed lightly and put his hand on the door.

“Next time maybe.”

Harry nodded and Louis walked out the door, flushed with embarrassment. His mind was spinning with frustration and curiosity over what might have been and as he started waving down taxis he could only hope he would get another chance again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis in a mood...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick thank you for all the positive feedback! Ill be on vacation for about 14 days so you might all have to wait a little bit for the next chapter

Louis slammed his front door and let out a sigh of disbelief and stress. He couldn’t believe what just happened or how it ended.

He walked through his apartment discarding his backpack on the floor behind his couch and made his way to his room.

He sat at his desk and rummaged around through the drawers until he pulled out his journal. He clicked open the same black pen from the last time and wrote his thoughts out neatly on the page.

_Dear Journal,_

_Harry Styles is a go. I did not think he was as attracted to me as he expressed but I guess that’s a good thing. Something feels strange to me I don’t know what exactly it is or how I’m supposed to react to this all but I’m very nervous._

_Harry has this new hot assistant that looks like he fell out of the sky to save the world. It’s unfair but it was very obvious it was to make me jealous and it worked wonders._

_All was good in our little bubble until his assistant decided to ruin the mood. I’m not asking for much tomorrow. Maybe a hello and a few notes on a piece of paper but was Harry ready to risk being caught again?_

_I can’t really see us doing much more than talking tomorrow, trying to cover our tracks. Wish me luck world! I need it._

Louis closed the book and set it aside. He didn’t know why he actually enjoyed writing in this journal but he felt like he was actually talking to someone.

He started to stare out at the setting sun through his window and slowly got lost in the changing colors as his phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and saw Harry’s contact name flashing before his eyes.

He quickly pressed accept and held the phone up to his ear as he steadied his breathing.

“Hello?”

Louis paused waiting for his response. At first, there was a silence and then Harry cleared his throat.

“Hello, Louis. I was just. Well.”

He paused and Louis waited patiently as he gave Harry a moment to collect his thoughts.

“I’m just very sorry about what happened. I’m very embarrassed that I put you in that situation.”

Louis took in those words. He wasn’t sure if this was a simple apology or a chance to just hear Louis’ voice again but he enjoyed every second of it.

“Harry It’s fine. I’m not embarrassed and as long as we’re fine I’m okay.”

“Oh, we are totally fine!”

Louis could hear the excitement in his voice and couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. He felt like a teenager again.

“Alright. Then I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yes, you will.”

“Good. Goodnight Mr.Styles.”

Harry chuckled at the name. Louis pictured him laying on his bed, his hair all over the place among a mountain of pillows.

“Goodnight Louis.”

Louis hung up and placed his phone face down and he smiled into his hands. He felt a whole zoo building up in his stomach as he thought about what tomorrow might bring.

****

Louis woke up an hour earlier and showered before he headed to work. His ride there was joyous and the sun was shining brighter than ever before and when he entered the Styles building it didn’t feel as chaotic and toxic as it normally did.

He continued to hum to himself as he walked over to the elevator and scanned his key, the door opening immediately to expose Nick standing alone in the elevator.

“Hello, Louis.”

Immediately the feeling of sunshine and all of his happiness drained away. Louis walked into the elevator and forced himself to smile as he scanned floor seven and put his hands in his pockets.

“Good morning Nick.”

Louis wondered why he was still in the elevator as the doors closed and started to get uncomfortable. When the doors completely closed Nick turned to him slightly.

“I just want to say I’m sorry for walking in on whatever was happening yesterday and your secret is safe with me.”

Louis put his hands on his hips and raised his eyebrows slightly.

“What exactly is this secret?”

Nick became silent as the door opened to floor four and he turned to Louis with a stern look as he barely even whispered.

“That you’re fucking your boss.”

He walked out of the elevator and Louis gripped tightly onto his backpack straps as the elevator doors closed and he rode up in silence.

When the doors opened again Lilly was standing there with a happy expression on her face. She had an iced coffee in her hand and cookie in the other.

“It’s my day to shine!”

Louis smiled softly at her. She was always the most excited of the bunch even though she represented the rocker branch. She was just so sweet and soft it almost didn’t make sense but somehow it worked wonders.

“I’m excited for you. You’re going to pick someone amazing for Harry.”

She smiled at him and shrugged.

“I hope I do. You put so much effort into your work so I’m sure your pick will still be the best.”

Louis waved her off as he put his bag down.

“That’s nonsense. Don’t put yourself down like that. Your talent is finding talent.”

She laughed and put her coffee down on her desk, still eating her cookie as she talked.

“Thanks, Louis. You really are the sweetest.”

She sat down as Harry came out of his office, blue fitted suit and tousled hair. Louis would’ve gone into a trance if Nick didn’t slide an envelope on his desk. He looked around and everyone else got one too.

Harry cleared his throat as he took to his stage. He seemed to be looking at Louis intently as he started to speak.

“Good morning everyone. On your desk, I have placed your invitations to the fashion show. These went out last night to everyone invited but you guys are the first to see them so enjoy.”

Harry watched Louis intently as he opened up the envelope to see a post-it on top of the invitation. It read :

_My car @ 6_

He looked up at Harry with a smirk and a curt nod before slipping the post it into his desk drawer with the notepad from yesterday.

Everyone else was examining the card still as Harry walked back into his office and sat down at his desk.

Emily looked over at him and she seemed oddly excited. He looked at her confused and she gave him an odd look.

“Why aren’t you freaking out?”

“I’m confused.”

He looked around at all four of the girls who were looking at him in awe. Claire waved the card around in the air.

“Hello, earth to Louis. Can you not read your own name?”

Louis looked down at the black and white card and started to read the scripted print. Skipping down to the bottom.

_With special guest speaker: Louis Tomlinson head of streetwear at Styles Corporation_

He was stunned at what was written in front of him. He blinked a few times, not believing it was real. He looked up at everyone again as Lilly started to bombard him with questions.

“Did you know? What are you going to wear? Oh god, what are you even going to say?”

Louis didn’t even answer he simply stood up and made his way over to Harry’s office, not even knocking as he walked in. Harry looked up surprised and started to speak.

“Louis I know we’re getting comfortable with each other but during the day you still have to knock.”

He was smiling but his smile slowly faded as he saw Louis’ distress. Louis held up the card for Harry to see.

“Special guest speaker Louis Tomlinson?”

Harry looked confused at his concern and he sat back in his chair as Louis sat down opposite him leaving the card on the table.

“Did I spell your name wrong or something?”

Harry picked up the card and examined it for a typo or something of the sort.

“No. You did forget to mention to me that I was giving a damn speech. What am I even supposed to say?”

Harry slid the card back to Louis and leaned back.

“I want you to say what you said to me about bringing new talent in. I want you to talk about my message of seeing clothes before the models. You understand my message the best and I want you to communicate it at the show. Are you not happy?”

Louis thought about his emotions for the moment. He should be elated that Harry was giving him a chance to even show himself at the show let alone speak at it.

“I’m sorry I overreacted.”

“Don’t be sorry, I understand I caught you off guard. Next time I’ll let you know before I print it on a card and send it to a thousand people.”

Louis stood up and smiled softly, taking the card back out of embarrassment.

“I’ll see you later then.”

“You sure will.”

Harry smirked as Louis made his way back to his desk and Harry called Nick over to go get some models waiting downstairs.

Paisley looked over at him first and asked the question on all of their tongues.

“What the hell was that?”

Louis walked over to his desk and sat down, setting the card up against his computer so he could examine it.

“I was just caught off guard and let my emotions get the best of me for a moment. It’s an honor.”

They all seemed to take that as a good answer but deep down Louis worried that eventually all of this would link people back to the fact that Harry had a crush on Louis and it would discredit all of Louis’ hard work.

Louis didn’t mind Harry treating him with more respect and giving him the opportunities he’s deserved but if anyone caught them alone or if Nick blew their cover then everything he worked for would look like a sham.

Louis dug through his desk drawer and pulled out the note from Harry asking him to meet him at his car and contemplated about even going. He didn’t want to stand Harry up because he really wanted this to work but at the same time, he didn’t know if it was worth it.

Nick came through the door with models and Harry raced out of his office. Pen in his mouth and a new notepad. He sat down next to Lily just like he did for Louis yesterday and they proceeded to question models.

Nick gave Louis a look that didn’t settle well in Louis’ core. He stuck the post it on the inside of his jacket pocket, far away from anyone’s roaming hands. Nick finally looked away from him and started to run around the office, collecting things for Harry and making sure everything was presentable.

Louis kept him in the back of his mind and watched him out of the corner of his eye as Harry spoke, not once even glancing in Louis’ direction. He was shocked at how cool and collected Harry was about the whole thing. He continued to talk as Louis’ mind trailed off to the conversation they had over the phone just the night before.

Louis continued to roam around the fantasy land he created in his head as more and more models filed through the office. Before he knew it, it was all over and it was right around three o’clock. Harry stood from his chair and thanked Lilly as he took back folders from models he liked and turned towards the rest of the group.

“You guys can go on a little hour lunch break. I’ll be in my office.”

Harry left them with that and locked himself in his office going over the folders like a madman. Everyone normally just ate and snacked at their desks. Everyone knew when Harry actually set a time for a break they were going to stay overtime.

Lilly was busy typing on her computer, much like Louis was yesterday and the other girls pulled out food they brought from their bags.

“So Louis, what are you going to talk about in your speech?”

Nick from across the room lifted his head and started to listen carefully to Louis’ words.

“Well. I’m going to thank Harry first for even letting me pitch the idea to him. I’ll thank the five models and then I’ll just talk about the vision Harry has about clothes before models.”

Emily nodded at his response as Claire stabbed her salad with her fork.

“I think it’s lovely he’s giving you a chance to speak at the event. Without your help, there might not even be an event happening.”

Emily cracked open her water bottle and she turned her chair slightly towards Louis.

“I’m just excited he’s taking you seriously now. He’s not treating you like an intern anymore and he even hired Nick.”

Nick put on a fake smile as he continued to shuffle through the filing cabinets. He pulled out folders Harry needed as he responded back.

“It was all Louis’ idea. When they went to dinner together he convinced Harry to hire someone to help so Louis could focus more on his work.”

Emily and Claire looked at Louis intently and even Lily looked up from her computer to see if that was true. Paisley looked down already knowing the answer. Emily started to speak up as Paisley looked at Nick in confusion, wondering why he sounded so annoyed but the whole situation.

“You guys went to dinner? Was it a date?”

Before Louis could even open his mouth Nick started to speak again, once again sounding condescending.

“I’ve been here two days and I’ve already heard the rumors about you two. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a date. I hope this wasn’t a secret.”

Paisley stood up from her desk and moved towards the garbage to throw out her trash as she spoke in a strong voice.

“Actually, it was a business dinner. I was told about it by Louis himself. It was casual and I tried getting something juicy out of him but it, unfortunately, was very boring business stuff.”

She shrugged as she sat down and glared at Nick. Louis put it in the back of his mind to thank her later. All eyes still seemed to be on him looking for reassurance in one story or the other.

“Alright. Listen up, I stayed back to work on this whole idea.”

He gestured to the office in reference to the models that had been flowing in and out for hours.

“I stayed back late and Harry and I worked on rearranging models and putting out ads for about an hour. He felt bad for keeping me extra so he brought me to lunch with him. It was very casual and you all know if you were the one who stayed back he would’ve done the exact same thing for you. With that being said I don’t want any more questions on the topic there is nothing going on between Harry and I so stop asking.”

He sounded furious at the end and everyone diverted their eyes and nodded slowly. Louis got up and threw out his trash before walking into the bathroom leaving everyone, including Harry who watched the whole thing go down confused.

Louis rolled up his sleeves and let the cold water from the sink cool him down. He looked himself in the eye and saw the anger in them slowly disappear. He was really letting Nick get to his head.

He wiped his hands and tossed his hair to the side before he exited the bathroom and made his way back to his seat. Nick was nowhere in sight and Lilly was in Harry’s office, going over the final models.

Louis leaned back and closed his eyes, resting his eyes for the last half hour of this break. He let his mind wander to what might happen later and he suddenly felt nervous, thinking of all the ways it could go wrong.

*****

When the time rolled around to pack up. Louis was the first one out of the door. Harry watched him go in confusion and got up rather quickly from his desk, following him into the elevator. He watched the office disappear behind the doors as he turned to Louis.

“Did you not get my note?”

Louis looked up at him, his eyes seemed wider and more nervous than normal. He thought the note fell into the wrong hands. Louis smiled pulling it out of his pocket.

“I got it.”

“So, where are you going?”

“Home.”

Harry looked taken aback for a moment as Louis put the note back in his pocket. The elevator stopped at the fourth floor but no one was there to enter so they stood watching the busy office before the doors closed again.

“Why?”

Harry looked generally concerned and Louis shook his head.

“Your precious intern seems to have a bigger mouth than we expected. Also, he taunted me in the elevator over you and I started my day on that note and I don’t feel like ending it with a fight right now so just respect my decision.”

Harry suddenly became quiet as the doors opened and Louis walked out into the parking lot. Harry quietly answered him.

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

Louis nodded as the doors slowly closed and he saw nothing but his own reflection in the silver of the elevator. He started to walk towards his car trying to convince himself this was the right decision.


End file.
